Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mocked the Palestinian leadership on Wednesday for rejecting US calls for peace negotiations, as President Barack Obama's envoy prepared for new talks.
Addressing foreign media, Netanyahu attacked President Mahmoud Abbas for refusing to end a year-old suspension of talks until Israel stops building colonies.
"The Palestinians have climbed up a tree," Netanyahu said. "And they like it up there.
"People bring ladders to them. We bring ladders to them. The higher the ladder, the higher they climb."
Diplomats have used such images in recent months to describe efforts by Obama's envoy George Mitchell and others to promote some face-saving way for Abbas to retreat from a condition he has set.
Abbas has said he will resume negotiations on establishing a Palestinian state only after Netanyahu stops all Jewish building in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
With Mitchell scheduled yesterday and today to hold his first talks this year with the two sides, Netanyahu made clear what he hoped the mediators would do.
"The Palestinians are piling demand upon demand upon demand," said Netanyahu. "They should be told fair and square ... ‘Start negotiating for peace' ... Let's get on with it.
"I'm prepared for peace. Are the Palestinians ready for peace?" asked Netanyahu, noting his coalition's moves to promote economic growth in occupied West Bank by lifting road blocks and its partial restraint on expanding colonies.
Abbas was quoted as saying last weekend that if Netanyahu did not impose a full colony freeze, another option was for Washington to define the parameters of a deal. Israel says such parameters may amount to prejudging the outcome of negotiations.
Framework
An Abbas aide, Nabeel Abu Rdainah, made clear on Wednesday that Abbas still wanted more from Israel, even if Mitchell proposed some framework for talks that met Palestinian demands.
"American guarantees are not enough," Abu Rdainah told Reuters. "What we are in need of is an Israeli commitment to implement the road map, which means a Palestinian state on the lines occupied in 1967 including occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.
"This is the vital question and this is what the Americans should do in the coming days: get an answer from the Israelis."
Some people in Israel have speculated lately that Netanyahu could stage a surprise shift in tack, pushing for a peace deal in defiance of his own allies on the right and possibly seeking new, centrist partners. But the prime minister also made clear on Wednesday the limits he saw on Palestinian sovereignty.
Signs of discontent
US-Israeli relations had once been marked by unwonted coolness under Netanyahu's premiership and the Obama presidency. But Western diplomats said on Wednesday they detected signs that Washington was increasingly frustrated with Abbas.
One Western diplomat in the region, speaking privately, said that Abbas "as the weaker partner" was now the focus of US efforts to stir the peace process back to life. "It's a dramatic shift from the way it started with Obama year ago," he said. Mitchell raised Israeli hackles last week with remarks about curbing US financial help for the Jewish state if peace efforts got bogged down.
